BidNet Direct Articles

for government procurement professionals.

Electronic Bid Submission: Go Digital

Boxes of old bid responses piled up in the conference room. An entire room dedicated to old bid responses filed away. If this sounds familiar, you are not alone. In today’s digital age, why are so many government entities still requiring paper bid submissions? The answer, most likely, is policy. A purchasing rule, law or policy change may be needed to allow government purchasing teams to accept responses electronically, especially for formal bids! Many governments are adopting an acceptance or even preference to electronically submitted proposals and quotes.

Going from paper to electronic bid submissions is a change in both policy and practice, but it is worth the adjustment to go digital for the cost savings, time savings and flexibility. Electronic bid submission (EBS) also makes utilizing other procurement tools such as online response evaluation and contract management that much more seamless.

What is EBS?

For many years, agencies required suppliers to submit bids by paper, which then required the vendor to mail, fax or hand deliver their proposals directly to the agency in order to qualify for the contract award. EBS allows buyers to receive responses to RFPs and RFQs digitally.

Even when using EBS, the bid submission process is still fair and even more secure than paper submissions. Bid responses are kept securely sealed until the close date has arrived, at which time only those with authorization can open and review submitted bids.

Why is EBS becoming more popular?

EBS helps reduce bidding time and operational cost. It greatly reduces bid turnaround time, giving vendors ample opportunity to respond before the solicitation closes. Vendors can respond to bid opportunities with no paper or mailing required, saving them money and time, and ultimately lowering the cost of goods and/or services offered. Deadlines and procedures for our no-cost EBS option are clearly defined for the potential bidder, lowering the risk of missed responses.

EBS allows vendors to respond to potential business opportunities quickly, easily, and, most importantly, securely. After submitting, vendors can make changes to their response up until the close date, allowing for more flexibility.

BidNet Direct’s EBS feature works with both formal and informal bids. Buyers can decide to receive bids electronically, manually, or a mixture of both on the platform. Automated bid tabulation makes awarding the RFQ simple and with our line item bidding, multiple awards are simple and quick.

Electronic responses may not be required or even allowed within your office today. However, looking forward into the future of procurement, EBS is here to stay and becoming more popular with local governments each year.